It is known to provide surgical tables and other surgical patient supports with a headrest upon which the head of the patient can be supported during surgery. The conventional headrests utilized heretofore generally comprise a support crown which is provided with a soft and yieldable lining or cushion of foamed rubber or the like, carried by a support and provided with means enabling the level (height) of the crown and its inclination to be adjusted and fixed.
Headrests of this type have been found to be satisfactory as simple head supports for the patients but have a serious deficiency in that they are not provided or associated with any means which can form a hand or arm support for the surgeon.
In modern microsurgical techniques, in which the most delicate movements must be made or controlled by the surgeon and wherein the most delicate manipulations must be undertaken, it is absolutely imperative to provide a support for the hands of the surgeon and his assistants, as well as for the head of the patient, if accurate and effective surgery is to be carried out.
This is especially important because cranial microsurgery is itself very time consuming and tedious so that a support for the surgeon's hands or instruments may be essential not only to ensure surgical precision, but also to avoid fatigue of the surgeon.